Masquerades in Battle
by Jeshickah Knight
Summary: Another Jakki fic, with a twisted juorney few people would tred, but many think to do. The Epilogue is done and up, finally the story is COMPLETE! I hope you enjoyed the journey!
1. The Old House

_**Masquerade**_

_Prologue_

* * *

Rain poured down outside, splashing against the window pane. Lightning danced across the sky in blinding flashes, long rumbles and deafening crashes took turns following.

Jakki gazed out the window, playing with a strand of hair. It was dark out; it was after sunset, with out a moon or stars to brighten the night because of the storm. It was quite outside, except the rain and thunder. Godric's Hollow tended to always be quite. Nothing ever happened; it was a sleepy little place, according to Jakki.

Jeshickah, Jakki for short, was sixteen, and she was a witch. She was supposed to be going back to Hogwarts for her seventh and final year in September. However, it was June, and from the look of things, Hogwarts wouldn't be opening come fall. She had applied to an exchange program later on in the summer to get her mind off things, but hat was not coming fast enough for her. Her older brother worked in the Department of International Cooperation and her mother worked in the Department of Education so she had a good chance of getting in. She had been working on her letter for almost a week and had finally sent it in that morning. Now all she could do was wait for the answer.

She went over her list of people who had sent in letters of recommendations for her; trying to see if any of the letters would deplete her chances.

Michelle. Her new sister-in-law was the first to pop into her mind. Last Christmas she had been forced into a frilly bridesmaid's dress and stand next to her in the wedding that made Michelle her sister-in-law and she was furious at her brother for marrying the preppy woman. Michelle and Jakki were complete opposites and Jakki couldn't stand the older woman. And Michelle insisted on trying to make Jakki more like her, something the girl couldn't stand.

Holly quickly followed, she was Michelle's little sister and just as much of a pain to Jakki. Holly was just a younger version of her older sister, preppy and girly. The only difference between them was Holly couldn't stand Jakki just as much as Jakki couldn't stand her. They were mortal enemies forced to be sisters-in-law.

Mercey Lewis was a great person to think of after the new in-laws from hell. She was Jakki's best friend and they had been so since before they were first-years in school. Jakki and Mercey were just like sisters. They were inseparable and she had written the best letter for her friend, which made Jakki very happy to have her as a friend.

Ashlee came up next for some reason. She had been Jakki's pen friend from America for almost a year now, and they were getting pretty close considering the distance between their countries. When her mother had brought up the suggestion to go on an exchange program, Jakki asked if Ashlee would write a letter for her, after all who better than an American to recommend a candidate to go to America?

Her older brother's best friend also wrote a letter for her. Ricky had been her brother's best friend since they had been little boys. He was almost like a second brother to her, since they had known each other for the longest time. He had even been the one to give her the nickname 'Jakki' when she felt she had outgrown 'Jess' and 'Jessie'.

Just thinking about Ricky made her remember her brother, Jonathan. He had written her a letter, to but sadly it couldn't be accepted because he worked in one of the departments in the ministry that ran the exchange program. She had always been close with her brother, but their six-year difference seemed to help the relationship. It had been a hindrance when Jon had been younger but since he was fourteen, things only got better with it.

Mercey's little brother wrote a letter but the girls ripped it up and threw it away. Joel had a crush on Jakki; he was two years behind them in school and was just getting into girls. She couldn't stand the kid and he seemed to have an infatuation with her. She knew how much he liked her and sometimes it just scared her.

Her parents had written her a letter too, it was almost rejected, but because her father was a muggle it canceled out her mother working in the ministry. She was glad they could still write her a letter, it made her feel a lot more confident in her chances of getting in. If every other candidate got to have their parents to send in letter, so she could too. Plus her parents always thought that Jakki should go to another country to further her education. And going to America was just the right solution!

She didn't have to use much persuasion to get her boyfriend, Travis, to write a letter for her, but if she actually was accepted to go, it would take a while to get him to let her go. They had been going out for a year and a half and always spent a lot of time together, he parents though they spent too much time together.

Jacelynn and Angela were also on the list. They were Jakki's other close friends. She didn't know them as well as she knew Mercey but she still loved them, just not as much as she loved her family, Mercey, and Travis. She was a loyal friend and she would always be one to the friends that were just as loyal to her in return. The only thing the two girls had asked for in return was lots of pictures of 'hot American guys'.

The most surprising letter-writer for her was from Professor McGonagall. Jakki had always been a bit of a rebel, and often got in trouble with the transfigurations teacher. Thus, it had been a huge shock when she found a nice letter from the professor in the stack of recommendations. Not even her Head-of-House, Professor Flitwick, had written a letter for her. Then again she could just be trying to fulfill her duties as the new Headmistress, something that had come to mind after she had sent everything in.

All in all, she was pleased with the outcome and was very confident in her chances of getting into the program. She had wanted to go to American ever since she had heard all the good things Ashlee had said about it in the letters they sent back and forth.

* * *

The rain was still poring outside, but the lightening had subsided a bit. It was late, not too late, but late enough that no one was outside. Everyone seemed to turn in early when it wasn't all that nice outside. Those times were Jakki's favorite times to go out. This was perfect weather for her, and the perfect opportunity to go out and enjoy it and be alone.

She looked in the mirror on the wall behind her door. Since she always kept the door closed, the mirror was always visible. She sighed regretfully at her reflection. She had never really liked the girl she saw in the mirror everyday.

She was rather thin, nicer people tended to call it willowy. She had dark ash blonde hair (some insisted it was brown), and was streaked with lighter blonde from the many times she had highlighted it. Her eyes were aqua in color, changing with blues and greens on occasion. She was fairly pretty, with clean features and nice skin. A light year-round tan showed her assortment of pearly white scars on her arms and legs from the years of trying to keep up with Ricky and Jon when they were younger.

Growing up with an older brother (and his friend) had changed her from the sweet little lady her mother wished she would have been. She still had a sweet smile, even though it often sported a malevolent smirk or menacing grin, and cute dimples that often drove boys crazy. She lacked in the skills it took to be girly and flirty when the occasion arose, despite how she looked. She never wore skirts or dresses if she could avoid it, and when she did it was under extreme protest. Instead well-worn jeans, often times very faded and bearing rips, were her favorite articles of clothing. In the summer she wore more tank tops and t-shirts than she normally did. But she never wore shorts in public.

Now she was wearing a too-small tank top and particularly short pair of shorts, both making her look exceptionally tall and gangly. She seemed to wear shorts as pajamas quite frequently, (even though, she never did in public) just as something to wear around the house when no one was around. And she never left the house in them when someone could see her. No one would be outside tonight, it was raining and everyone in her neighborhood hated the rain. "I'll just change when I come back in," she told the mirror when she decided she didn't want to change something she'd rather be seen in. she ran into her bathroom to grab a towel to set inside the door for her when she decide to come back in, so she wouldn't drip all over the floor.

She could hear the television in her parents' room. Her father was a muggle, and he was the one that moved his kids and his wife into the neighborhood he had grown up in, refusing to give up his 'electronics', as well. Jakki was thankful for the television's noise often times, when it gave her a good cover in those times she snuck out of the house. Now was one of those times she loved the noise.

She passed the room quietly, and down the stairs, passing the kitchen on her way to the front door. She tried not to disturb her cat, Moshi, and three kittens, Lioness, Scrap, and Yamani, all sleeping in Moshi's cat bed. She was almost at the door when she felt yellow cat eyes watching her. She turned back to see Moshi staring at her.

"I'll be back in a bit, so go back to sleep." She told he cat in a whisper and left the room.

The rain was still coming down hard when she got to the front door. She dropped her towel just inside the door, and kicked off her slippers right next to it. She pulled the band from her hair, letting it fall down her back. She felt a little stupid and even a bit cliché as she stepped outside. _I feel like I should be in some muggle chick flick movie, _she thought.

She had her face turned up to the sky with her eyes closed, enjoying the rain, when she heard it. There was a noise. In the old abandoned house next door.

No one had lived in the house since Jakki was born. Jon said he remembered some one living in there when he was little, but he couldn't remember much about it. He had always teased Jakki about it, saying the people that had lived there moved away when she was born because she was so annoying, but she knew it was a lie. When he and Ricky were fourteen they had snuck into the house, hoping to find a ghost. Jakki was only eight and too afraid to go in.

She was still to afraid to go in but if some local boys were in there messing around she was going to mess them up! So she made her way determinedly across the lawn and to the porch in the front of the other house. She hated when neighborhood boys tried to scare her, and she knew they were trying to do just that with the house.

She checked the folded-over band on her shorts; her wand was tucked invisible in the back. Good. She would need it if she was going to get those boys back.

She pushed open the door, it squeaked. No problem, if the muggle boys thought the house was haunted, this would only scare them more.

There was a lot of cobwebs and dust everywhere she looked. It defiantly looked like an abandoned or haunted house. Jakki got the shivers, she was still afraid of the house but she knew she had to beat the boys at their own game.

She jerked her head up to the ceiling when she heard a noise, going stiff with fear. Something fell to the ground the floor above her, and someone swore. _Okay, now it's my turn to scare you._ She thought as she made her way up the stairs, of what she assumed was the parlor off the small hallway she had first come into.

Up the stairs she saw a lot of things she would have expected to see in any other normal house (normal for her anyway, not normal for muggles). She saw a bathroom, with old and dusty make up containers, hair potions and things she saw in her bathroom, along with an assortment of things she had seen in her brother's bathroom. There was a bedroom with a large bed, covered with bedding decorated with brooms and Snitches, a closet with robes in it she saw through the door that was hanging off its hinges, two dressers she couldn't see anything in, and a desk scattered with spell books and assorted wizarding magazines, all covered with a good layer of dust.

Across the hall she saw what she thought was a flashlight's beam through the door that was cracked open slightly. She put down the old Quidditch magazine she was looking at, and went to investigate.

She looked through the crack in the door first. Someone was looking over into a crib. That was weird but what she saw in his hand was just as odd. He had a wand, tip alight, looking over things with it. No other wizards lived in the area; it was only her mother and her now.

She pulled her wand free from the waistband of her shorts, her hand was still a little wet from the rain, so she gripped it a bit tighter. She gathered her courage and took a deep breath. She was ready to take on muggle boys who wanted to scare her, but to take on someone with magic, when she couldn't even legally use magic outside school yet, that was entirely different.

Slowly she lifted her shaking hand and pushed open the heavy wood door. It didn't make much any noise, which was peculiar considering the front door had squeaked. The stranger hadn't turned around, Jakki couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing at the moment, but still pressed on.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked, glad her voice sounded stronger than she felt, holding her wand in front of her like a shield.

He spun at her voice. Surprising her to see how young he was, he looked to be about her age. He had a shock of messy black hair, glasses hiding bright green eyes. She couldn't see his scar but she knew who it was immediately without it.

He stared at her confused for a moment, the look clear on his face. Before he could formulate any kind of answer for her question, she had reloaded and fired again, now that she knew who it was, she had more questions for him.

"Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be off doing something heroic?" she asked coolly, returning her wand to the folded up waist band of her shorts. She would have been embarrassed by how she looked at the moment but her anger beat it out.

"What?" his confusion subsided. "What am I doing here? And what do you mean by 'off doing something heroic'?"

"You know what I mean," Jakki glared, now trying to forget that probably looked like an idiot in her shorts and tank top, dripping wet, a puddle of water gathering around her feet. "You're always off playing the hero in all kinds of schemes. How do I know what your really doing up here? You could be up here trying to pull me into one of them."

"I don't even know who you are," he insisted, dropping his wand hand to his side. "And-wait, er…who are you? I thought this was a muggle neighborhood."

She rolled her eyes in disgust. "Oh, so you think you're the only one special enough to live in a muggle neighborhood? Well, sorry, but you're not."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Harry demanded defensively from her rude suggestions. "And, who are you anyway?"

"Hi," she pulled on a falsely nice voice, but she was still sure he was getting that she was being sarcastic. "I'm Jeshickah, my friends call me Jakki. I'm sixteen years old, and I'm going to be a seventh year Ravenclaw this fall. Now, I have just one question," the false smile slipped from her face and the sweetness left her voice as she shouted. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Seeing that at this rate, no one was going to accomplish anything, Harry gave up on trying to understand this new girl. "I'll explain it all later if you want, but right now, don't you want to get out of those wet clothes? It's almost midnight, you must be getting cold."

Jakki crossed her arms defiantly, looking away from him, clenching her teeth. She was getting a little cold in the drafty house, not to mention the house had always given her the creeps and this was no exception. She didn't want to admit that he was right but she_ did_ want to get back home. "Fine," she gave in at last, but not without a frustrated sigh. "But we're gonna go to my house."

"Okay with me, how far away do you live?" he asked, with a shrug, thrusting his wand back into the back pocket of his too-large jeans.

"Just next door, so move hero-boy." She insisted, pointing behind her and to the door.

* * *

Jakki lead Harry back to her house, and snuck him up to her room, glad that her father had fallen asleep watching TV. He wouldn't be waking up any time soon.

She made Harry stay in her room while she changed in her bathroom. Switching her wet shorts for her favorite pair of jeans, and soaking top for one of the sweatshirts she barrowed from her boyfriend. She brushed her hair quickly, braiding it tightly to keep it out of her face. When she returned to her room she found her guest looking through the papers on her desk.

"Hey! That's private." She cried, snatching a letter away from him. "Do you always trifle through peoples private things?"

"No," he looked embarrassed as he stepped away from the desk. "I just have one question."

"Well, fire away!" she sighed, trying to collect all her private letters, and stashing them in one of the drawers.

"You said you were a Ravenclaw, so I guess I'm just wondering why I haven't seen you in the halls or something." He said, grabbing the chair from the desk and sitting down.

"And, where was the question there?" she asked, flopping down on her bed facing him, after she turned over a picture of Travis beaming up at her in its frame on her nightstand.

"I think so," he frowned when she chuckled at him.

"Well, I wasn't much of a good student, I guess." She shrugged. "A lot of the professors kept me after class, or gave me extra homework, or detention. So I guess adding that to homework, I never had enough time to hang around in the halls. Besides, we're in different Houses, that may have contributed to some thing."

Harry nodded; it made more sense than it didn't, so he just accepted it. From there their conversation elevated and they talked until both of them were yawning. At that point, Jakki threw him a pillow and a blanket, and they both went to sleep, she stayed in her bed, and Harry curled up on the floor near the desk.


	2. American Dream

_**The American Dream**_

_**Masquerades chapter 2**_

* * *

Jakki woke up earlier than usual the next morning, hurrying to gather her clothes and get into the bathroom. Yawning, she slipped on her black shirt with capped blue sleeves and the inscription "WEIRD SISTERS FAN" in big bold blue letters. She was going to put on her bleach-splashed jeans, but she couldn't find them in her room so instead she slipped into her faded ones with dark purple paint splattered across the back. The paint was a result of a splattering contest she had with Mercey when they painted her room.

Her hair was probably kinked and rumbled from being braid while it was wet. Cursing her love of storms, she pulled the band from the bottom of her braid and shook her hair free. It was better than she expected at least; strait from scalp to half way down her neck and then it kinked from drying in the braid, and then the bottom inch or so was strait again. Instead of using a muggle straightener in her hair, she dug through her cabinet under the sink for her bottle of hair straightening potion, and gently smoother it through her kinky blonde hair, watching as the waves begun to lay flat. Since the potion set in quickly, she had to hurry to brush out the tangles and knots before she couldn't get them out again.

With her hair left down, she slipped the band around her wrist while she checked over what she looked like in the bathroom mirror. She was just putting her potion bottle and brush away when she heard a clunk on wood in her room followed by a curse.

She tried not to laugh while she threw her clothes in the hamper. Harry had ended up sleeping under her desk, and she knew from experience no matter how careful you were, more often than not, you'd hit your head on the desk.

"You know it's your own fault," she taunted. "You shouldn't sleep under a desk."

"Well, you could have told me that last night." Harry said angrily, as he rubbed his head.

"Last night you were next to the desk, not under it," she pointed out, digging in her closet. "Be a little weird then, wouldn't it? Telling you not to sleep under a desk when you were next to it."

He grudgingly agreed, glaring at the desk as he stood up, and sat in the chair. "What are you looking for it anyway? It looks like you're dressed already."

"I think I have some of my boyfriend's clothes in here," she replied, yanking a white t-shirt out from under a pile of clothes, and turning to throw it at him. "You don't want to have to wear that today, do you?" she returned to the pile for a pair of dark blue jeans. "I don't have a belt though, so if they're too big, too bad."

"Thanks," he shrugged looking over the clothes, hoping they weren't cursed. "Why are you being so nice today?"

"Mercey is coming over today, and I don't think she'd wanna smell you." She replied, getting her wand of her bedside table and tucking it down the back of her shirt. "There's a shower in my bathroom, just don't go through my drawers, the towels are on the rack next to the sink."

Shrugging, Harry went into the bathroom. "I do not smell." He whispered angrily after he shut the door. So she wasn't as nice as he thought she was. She was still the quick-witted mean girl from the night before.

* * *

An hour later found Jakki and Harry sitting across from each other at the little table in the kitchen, both silent not looking at each other. Harry knew Jakki would have some quick little comeback for anything he would say, and besides, he couldn't think of anything to talk to her about. Jakki just didn't want to talk to Harry, she was still convinced he was some thrill-seeking hero-boy, and just wanted him out of her house.

There was a knock at the door, and Jakki jumped up quickly, and went into the next room to go answer it. Harry resisted the small temptation to get up and peek in through the door frame to see what Mercey looked like.

He heard the two girls talking excitedly, laughing and sounding just like he expected two girls to act around each other. Until he heard Jakki mention him.

"No! Why'd you invite to your house? I would have left him out in the rain." he heard the other voice say, assuming it was Mercey.

"I know, but that house always gave me the creeps, and I donno, I guess I thought if I left him there, someone was gonna pop out of no where and kill me or something." He heard Jakki chuckle slightly.

"And sometimes you're just too nice to be a friend of mine." Mercey also chuckled, followed by the sound of the girls coming back to the kitchen.

"Oh yeah, then who would you prank with?"

Harry was still sitting at the table, pretending to look through the copy of the _Daily Prophet_ that was on the table. Mercey walked in arm-and-arm with Jakki, both of them smiling and truly looking like really close friends.

Mercey was a shorter than Jakki; her hair was a dark russet brown with an intense reddish glow to it, much like Jakki had a golden glow to her dark ashy locks. Her hair was short, only a few inches to the ponytail of tight curls. Her nose looked like it had been broken once, and not quite set back right, giving the look of being smashed in. Her cheeks were flushed like she had just run (or flown) over. Her dark chocolate brown eyes looked slightly watery, like the wind had been blowing right into them, her hair also looked slightly windswept dispite the fact it had been in a ponytail. She was a little bulky, but more muscular than anything. She had many scars over her slight tan, just like her friend Jakki did. All in all, Mercey was rather good-looking, but next to Jakki was like putting a pug next to a Great Dane; it just didn't do her justice.

"Is that him?" Mercey whispered in Jakki's ear.

Jakki nodded, not even bothering to hide her smirk. She dropped her arm from the link of the other girl's, and went over to the refrigerator in the opposite corner of the room. "You want something? Water, Butterbeer, anything?"

"No, I'm fine, unless your mum made any of those butter rum cookies; I supposed she's too busy at work to do any cooking now a days, though." The dark haired girl sighed, jumping up to sit on the counter.

"Well, the ministry hasn't really been on mum a lot, but Jon seems to be over-worked." Jakki hopped up on her toes to get to the top of the fridge, pulling down a bag of golden brown cookies with designs pressed in the top of them. She passed the bag over to her friend and pouring two glasses of milk for them. "You should hear Michelle complaining about it. She never shuts up about! I swear, she's killing me."

"Yeah, I bet," both of the girls seemed to have forgotten Harry was in the room with them. "So, anything going on with your trip yet?"

"I just sent the letters yesterday afternoon," Jakki shrugged, taking an unnecessarily large bit of her cookie, almost choking on it before she swallowed it. "I won't hear back form them for at least another day or two."

"I'll be you get in, especially 'cause-a your pen friend," Mercey grinned, "What's her name again? Annie or Ally?"

"Ashlee, but I don't know if it'll help or not," Harry wondered vaguely if he should leave or not, after all the girls didn't seem to notice him at all. "I bet the rest of the people got better grades than me, and that's gotta count for something."

"So, I noticed your new little friend doesn't have much of a life," Mercey grinned as she got the last cookie before Jakki had the chance to grab for it. "That or he likes you."

"Ace, I swear, you think everyone like me," she didn't seem to react much despite how Harry looked to have been offended.

"Yeah, well that's because half of the boys in our House do!" Mercey laughed, and Jakki scowled.

"No, I don't think so," she shook her head and glared at her friend. "What about everyone's favorite Seeker, _Cho_?"

"Oh, don't even say that name!" Mercey slapped her hands on the sides of her head, in a mocking headache. "I can't stand that girl!"

"I know, that's why she got maggots in her bed last year," Jakki looked mischievous, and Harry wondered what these girls had against the girl he had once dated. "You remember her face when she went snuggled into bed that night. That was something I'll never forget."

"I just wish we would have thought of that earlier."

"You kinda did," now she grinned outright, "remember? She started locking her trunk after she got Flubberworms in it the year before."

Mercey returned her friend's grin and they shared a laugh at Cho's expense.

* * *

The next few days passed in a blur, with nothing interesting happening and few things that weren't boring. Harry had moved across the hall to Jonathan's old room that was now acting as a guest room, Jakki seemed really excited to have him out of her room, and out of her way.

On Harry's third day visiting the Ravenclaw girl's house he woke up to her running through the house screaming excitedly.

"Mum!" she called running up through the hall outside the bedrooms. "Mum, are you still home?"

"Yes, dear, I'm still here," Harry recognized the voice of the very kind Mrs. Knight answer her daughter's excited calls. "But I'm running a little late, so you'll have to hurry."

He couldn't help it, he had to peek though the door to see what was going on, he could see Mrs. Knight's back from where he was in relation to the two women, she seemed to be looking at folded bit of parchment, reading over it carefully. Jakki was standing just opposite her, and Harry could see clearly her really excited and eager expression.

_Wonderful, she got her letter, and she was accepted. _Harry thought selfishly, he didn't like spending time with Jakki, nor did she seem to with him, but as long as she was still home he had an excuse to stay in the house. But if she wasn't there, how could he stay? And where could he hide out while he worked on figuring out the latest clue to the final Horcrux? He had known that she may be leaving but he never though she actually would. He knew it was selfish of him but he couldn't help it.

"Oh this is fantastic, dear, we'll have to throw you a party this weekend," Mrs. Knight handed the acceptance letter back to her daughter and headed for the stairs just behind her, she was still facing away from Harry so he couldn't see her face, but he knew she was really proud. "Don't forget to remind me when I get home tonight."

"I won't, Mummy!" Jakki grinned as she looked over the letter again. Then she looked up, the grin slipping from her face, and all joy leaving her features; she had spotted Harry peeking out, and she didn't seem too happy about it. But her new scowl was again replaced with a wicked glare and smirk to match.

"So, bet you're happy I'm leaving now, aren't you?" she said, waving the letter with a not-so-subtle air of being superior. "Now you can go out and continue playing hero-boy without feeling like you're leaving me unprotected or anything."

"Oh, yeah, 'cause I just love going around saving people, keeping myself in the spotlight at all times," Harry replied sarcastically, watching her with a very slight kind of admiration towards her. _No_, he caught himself half way through the thought of admiring such a brat; _I most defiantly do _not_ admire someone like that._ He shook his head, as he retreated back into his room.

Jakki sniffed, still glaring at the closed door, before returning to her own. She half-jumped just thinking about going to the States, Mercey would most defiantly want to know, as would Travis. She couldn't wait for them to find out!

* * *

"I still can't believe you'll be leaving me," Travis looked slightly depressed as he, Mercey and Jakki sat on the couch on one side of the large parlor packed with friends and family congratulating Jakki for making it into the program. "I'll be all by myself for a whole month."

"No you won't," Jakki snuggled up closer to her boyfriend, resting her head gently on his shoulder, "You still have Mercey, plus a week after I leave, you'll be going to France, and you'll forget all about me."

"Not true," Mercey and Travis replied at the same time, laughing at each other as Moshi jumped up onto Jakki's lap and the kittens all tried to fallow, not able to get up as high as their mother did. Yamani and Lioness were picked up by Mercey while Scrap was by Travis.

It had been three days since Jakki had gotten her letter. She still couldn't believe she would be leaving in a week. She had gotten a letter from the family she was going to be staying with when she got her acceptance letter. They seemed nice to her, but they also reminded her a lot of her own family…only they were a more extreme version.

Jennifer Halliwell was a single mother of six kids. Jakki often heard her father saying he felt the same, even though he only had two. Allen and Rebecca were closest to her in age; with Allen at eighteen and Rebecca at fourteen. Having an 'older brother' while on her trip made her feel a lot better about going but having a lot of younger siblings seemed to be a really fun adventure for her. Even though she wouldn't have minded being in a family of all boys, she liked that she would have Rebecca and Bethany (only six years old) to teach her what it was like to be an older sister. The last three children were boys, Jacob was twelve and the twins, Jared and James were ten. All in all she was extremely excited to go…and scared that she'd be alone in a new country.

"You know, your new friend has been staring at you this whole time." Travis looked annoyed as he noticed Harry watching in the corner.

"Yeah well, just a week and he'll be gone for good," Jakki smiled up at him, kissing his cheek.

"You hope anyway," Mercey grimly added, "I mean, for all you know, your parents could just adopt him while you're gone, and you'll be stuck with him for the rest of your life."

"Why would you even say that!" Jakki exclaimed, clapping her hands over her ears. "I think I'd rather be in Salem Witch Trials being accused."

"Me, too," Mercey agreed, raising her glass to click it against her friends in a toast to being ride of the annoying hero Jakki now lived with.

As the girls and Travis laughed and bashed Harry, Jakki's mother came weaving though the crowd with Jonathan behind her. Both of them were looking rather scared and hesitant, Mrs. Knight was even close to tears, flooding her dark blue eyes.

"Mum, is everything okay?" Jakki dropped Moshi to the floor and stood to go to her mother.

"Mercey, will you come into the other room with me?" Mrs. Knight tried to keep a level voice as she ignored her daughter.

"Yeah, Ria, what's going on?" Mercey was worried, very few times was it that Mrs. Knight ever looked close to tears, and it was only in extremely bad situations when that happened. So Mrs. Knight, Mercey, Jakki, Jonathan, and Travis went into the empty dining room that had been closed against the crowd.

Jonathan frowned as he closed the double doors behind the group. The girls and Travis sat in chairs around the table while Jonathan stayed by the door, and Jakki's mother hesitated as she walked around the table.

"I can tell her if you don't want to," Jonathan offered, but Mrs. Knight only shook her head.

"I have to do it," she sighed as she sunk to the nearest chair. "Mercey, your mother is dead. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is ruthless; you know that, the Mark was over your house, and everything inside was destroyed, I'm so sorry, dear."

"No," Mercey shook her head viciously, her dark russet brown curls flying everywhere. "You're wrong, it was a different house, it had to have been."

"It wasn't," Jonathan sighed, leaning back against the doorframe. "I was there, I heard someone talking about it in my department, and I took off to see it for myself. I'm sorry, but it was your house."

Mrs. Knight's eyes overflowed with tears, and Mercey collapsed against the table, shaking with sobs. Jakki looked to her brother, who turned away, staring out the window to the dark night. She felt Travis wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her towards him. She gave in to lean against him, now crying as well.

* * *

"I'm not going," Jakki shrugged as she and Mercey unpacked her bags. All of the guests had left, save Mercey. Jakki's mother had insisted Mercey stay the night, in a safe house, where she could at least be with people who knew what she was going through, and felt the same. 

"I can't go now," she continued, "not after what happened. I'm gonna stay with you. Besides, I don't think I can go through with the trip if I know you're alone now."

* * *

Jakki stood outside the door debating for a while. Everyone in the house was still asleep when she left. She felt stupid going out for a walk so early in the morning, but by the time she was out of the yard she took off at a run around the neighborhood. She had started crying while on the run but before she turned back down onto her street her tears had been all dried out, and left salty tracks across her cheeks.

Now she was back in the house, still trying to decide if what she was doing the right thing. Finally she gave in, and knocked at the door. Harry poked his head out, looking extreamly annoyed.

"What do you want?" he asked with a yawn.

"I know what you were doing at that old house," she tried not to be hesitant as she explained herself. "You're after You-Know-Who, aren't you?" she didn't wait for an answer, it was now or never for her. "I…er…I wanna go with you. I wanna help you."


	3. Loosing Half a Life

_**Loosing Half a Life**_

_**Masquerades chapter 3

* * *

**_

"What? No," Harry looked extremely confused. "How did you….Why do you…How long did you…?"

"You can stop speaking nonsense and just tell me where to go and what to do," Jakki sneered, almost angry that he would be questioning here when it was her who need answers. "I can answer whatever you think you need to know later, just tell me one thing," she pushed past him and sat on the bed in his temporary room. "Why did you show up here?"

He sighed, knowing she wouldn't give up without answers for her. Knowing what he did about her, she wouldn't answer his questions either, at least not until she had the information she needed. "I thought coming back to the place where my parents were killed I could pick up on his trail."

"And?" she urged, waving her hands impatiently.

"Nothing," he shook his head, looking down at the floor. "I should have known, he's too good to leave a trail. "So since you mum was so nice when she invited me to stay, even if you weren't as nice, and it seemed that being in a house with someone who couldn't stand me was better than sleeping out in the park down the street or something."

Jakki felt guilt for being so cruel to him when he was only trying to work out his next move against the evil that had killed her best friend's mother, the woman who was like a second mother to her. "I'm sorry for making you feel unwelcome. I heard about you going out with Cho and I was jealous. I wasn't going out with Travis yet and I kind of had a thing for you. But Cho came back from those D.A. meetings, and after you asked her out for Valentines Day. I was mad, I just hated you for going out with her, and I just hated her more, she'd always brag about it all the time when I was in the Common Room." She cracked her knuckles and fiddled with her fingers, refusing to meet his eyes. "I shouldn't have been that mean, it was horrible of me. I'm really not always that mean, I was just so mad."

She looked up with a tear in her eye, looking completely regretful for the lat week. Harry took it as genuine, and sat next to her on the bed. "It's okay; I'm use to people not being too nice to me.

Lioness and Scrap came wondering in the room, deciding to wrestle on the floor. Jakki laughed at them, which made them both jump at the noise and run out of the room like their tails were on fire.

"Whoa, you two are just too silly." Travis's voice floated in through the open door, as he came into view looking back on the kittens that had just fled. He turned across the hall, to the room Mercey had claimed when she moved in temporarily.

Her door was open a creak, so he poked his head in, "D'you know where Jakki is, she's not in her room."

"Check across the hall," Mercey replied, her voice just as hallow as it had been since she found out about her mother's death. Her voice no longer had it's cheery, mischievous luster, now it was just empty, drained completely of every little drop of emotion she ever seemed to have in her whole life.

Travis shrugged and turned around, and by the time he was half way around, he had spotted his girlfriend and the new kid sitting on the bed. He took only a moment to pick his jaw off the floor as he strode into the room glaring at Harry. "What do you think you're doing?" he shouted, Jakki jumped off the bed and moved to talk with her boyfriend.

"It's not what you think," she said quickly. "It's really not, and don't get mad at him, I was the one that came in here. C'mon, I'll tell you everything, I promise."

"No, I think I wanna hear what _he _has to say about this." Travis didn't move as Jakki pulled at his arm. His eyes didn't move either as she tried to get his attention. He glared at Harry as though everything that had ever happened in his life was his fault. "C'mon, mate, let's hear it."

Harry stammered for a moment, trying to understand what exactly was going on. Jakki helped by standing in front of Travis grabbing his face and gently forcing him to look at her. "Come downstairs with me, I'll tell you everything; just promise me you won't get mad at me."

* * *

"I can't believe you care that much," was the only reply Travis had to Jakki's explanation.

"I know," Jakki chuckled, getting out of her chair to lie on the couch with him, laying her head in his lap. "I'm tempted to stay but I almost feel like it's something I have to do…you know?"

"Yeah, but I still don't think you should give up the States for this." he sighed, stroking her hair absently.

"I know," she replied.

* * *

Mercey was asleep by the time Jakki had come back from her late night walk to clear her mind. She was still having some doubts about following Harry across the country. Every time a doubt seemed to pop up though, the haunting vision of Mercey crying at the table when she heard her mother was dead was enough to banish the doubt. She was beyond that now, and even though she still hadn't told her family yet, she decided, she would be leaving tonight, before any doubt could overcome her.

She packed a few pairs of jeans, some shirts, a sweatshirt, a rain jacket, pajama pants, a tank top, socks, and few things she thought she might need into a backpack. She tip-toed downstairs and set her bag by the door, tying a pair of hiking boots to one of the shoulder straps. She quickly scribbled notes to her parents, Mercey, Travis and Jon. She labeled them and put all but Jon's on the table, shoving the last in her pocket. She took her wand out from it's hiding place in the back of her shirt and sent sparks through the ceiling to Harry's room, the signal they had earlier agreed on to tell him she was read to go.

She ran through a check list of all the things she thought she might need, making sure she was forgetting nothing. As Harry came into the kitchen she was just shoving the envelope full of her parchment, quill, and ink bottle into the bag as well.

"Are you sure you really want to come with me?" he whispered, knowing everyone else in the house was asleep.

"Yeah, I'm sure," she said, "I just need to stop at my brother's house,"

"Why?" he asked, watching ass she picked up her things, and slipped back into her shoes.

"I haven't told him yet," she replied, "he's always been my protector so I know I have to tell him."

"We don't have enough time for you to do that." He pointed out.

"I know, I wrote him a note, all I have to do is slip it under his door, then we can go, I swear."

* * *

Harry had to grab his things from the house next door, and they were off, flying directly to Jonathan's house. Jakki got up to the door and crouched down to slip the note under the door. Stopping herself from sliding it all the way under, and unfolding it to write a last little thing.

"_Tell Michelle I don't hate her. I just couldn't stand that she took you away from me. I really actually like her a little. Just tell her not to get me anything too girly if I actually come back from this, okay?"_

A single tear fell down her check and left a wet dot on the parchment, smearing her signature slightly. She slid the refolded note all the way under the door and walked back to Harry who was holding her broom for her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, when he saw the wet track down her face.

"Of course I am," she said, furiously wiping the tears off her face. "Why wouldn't I be?

Harry shook his head and they were off again. He kept glancing over at Jakki who always had wet checks and tears in her eyes, staring blindly ahead. Was she regretting her choice?

No, the reality of everything was just settling in on her. She may not ever see her family again, and she really never said good-bye to them.

Mercey would probably be coming downstairs find her note, with Travis's under it, take them up to her new room. She would read the note and cry until Travis came over. Jakki knew he'd probably read his, and kick the wall, cursing. Michelle would cry over the little note she got, that was just her style. Jon would comfort her, but not show how upset he actually was. He'd tell Ricky when he saw him, and they'd talk for a while, and then move on, keeping their cool. That's just what they did.

* * *

There was a few slow weeks that trickled by; Jakki got more and more bored with the goings on. Her most exciting moment was meeting Harry's friends and getting into a little argument with the girl; Hermione.

* * *

"So, you're expecting me to pretend to be normal when your mates get here?" she scoffed, picking up her things from the night before and slipping on a light jacket.

"Well, yeah," Harry shrugged, "I mean you're not exactly nice and I really would rather…"

"Rather what?" she demanded, packing the last of her things and putting her hair up in a ponytail. "Rather be with your friends than someone who might even be able to help you?"

"No," he said hesitantly. She looked at him, knowing he was lying. "Okay, well, maybe a bit but it's not because it's you I'm turning away." She gave him another skeptical look. "Okay, fine, I'd rather like to be with my friends than you."

"That's all I wanted to hear." She rolled her eyes, collecting her envelope of parchment, ink and quill. "Just tell me when they get here; I'm going to write home."

"You did that yesterday, why do you have to do it again?" he looked annoyed, he hadn't even written anyone since before he went back to Godric's Hallow.

"Yeah, so?" she sighed, and yawned. "Just because we're out on a quest to save them, doesn't mean they're safe, so therefore, I'd rather write them. Plus, I promised I'd write everyone and tell them what was going on."

"Whatever," he gave up on trying to understand her anymore. It seemed to him that the more time they spent together the more he seemed to hate her; and she must have felt the same.

Jakki was half way through the letter to her brother that she had only started the day before when Harry came and got her.

"This is Jakki…" he looked uneasy about it as he introduced her to his friends; a tall red-headed boy and puffy-haired brunette girl. Jakki recognized him but decided to make Harry go through the pains of introducing them to her. "That's Ron and Hermione."

"You know, Ginny's not gonna like this when she finds out," Ron said, as he tried not to glare at Jakki.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Jakki demanded immediately, jamming her half-written letter into the pocked of her jeans.

"Well, you're going out with Harry now, aren't you?" Hermione laughed a little making Jakki hate her immediately. "Why else would you be here, some girl, while his old girlfriend is still at home. Oh and, Harry, she really misses you, she almost never comes down from her room anymore."

"I'm _not _his girlfriend, if that's what you're implying." Jakki crossed her arms, and glared at the new girl in the group.

"Well then, just who are you?" Hermione asked, getting rather angry at the Jakki's attitude.

"I'm Jakki Knight," she said simply and slowly, mocking Hermione in a way she thought was subtle. "I live next to the place that started the legend, or whatever the _Prophet _may be calling it now."

"I doubt that, the Ministry is very against it, you know, muggles and wizards mixing," Hermione stated being very much the know-it-all she had been made out to be.

"Yeah, well my mother's a witch and my father's a muggle, so there for I think I can live in a muggle community." Jakki mockingly copied Hermione's tone. "Besides, I don't think the Ministry minds all that much since my mother and brother _and _sister-in-law all work there."

"You can't be serious," Hermione scoffed.

"Oh, but I am." Jakki smirked and when Hermione didn't come up with another response, she added. "Well, what do you know, for once Miss Granger doesn't have an answer." and with that she turned back to finish writing the letter to her brother, and reread it before sending it with her owl, Artemis.

_Jon-_

_I'm starting to regret this a bit I think. It gets kinda lonely when I only get one person to talk to; I think I'd rather talk to a brick wall; at least I can jinx it to have an intelligent conversation with. Supposedly he's got some of his friends coming to join us on out little adventure, so I know this is going to be a rough ride from here on out. _

_I really miss you and Ricky, even Michelle at sometimes. I have a feeling she'd have more fun on this trip if she were me, but that's okay, maybe I can pick up a mate or two myself on this trip and get rid of Harry and his little friends._

_Well the friends just got here; Ron and Hermione. They're just like Harry, and that girl has already decided she hates me. She thinks I'm stealing Harry from whoever his girlfriend is…I forgot her name. Rather funny, isn't it?_

_Well I better get back and see what they're doing now. Maybe I can find something to talk to, maybe even get out of having to apologize to that girl. I can't stand her!_

_Promise to write again soon!_

_Your sister,_

_Jakki

* * *

_

**_A/N:_**_ I apologize, this chapter's a little shorter than usual. This chapter, the last one, and the next one have all gotten mushed together from what I originally planed it to be, so for a while things are gonna be a little rocky but when I finally get past the next chapter things will smooth out, I promise._ _And I know it's no excuse but my mom was out of town while i was finishing this chapter so i was living in a house with three guys... oh, yes, it was tons of fun; four days with no other women with me._


	4. Depression, Anger, and Envy

_**Depression, Anger and Envy**_

_**Masquerades chapter 4**_

… … …

Jakki was annoyed with having to sleep on the ground but she never complained to Harry or his friends. Hermione seemed to be complaining about it but Jakki didn't spend enough time with the trio to really pay that much attention. Most of the time she sat off on her own writing letters to all her friends back home. After a few days of her sending off multiple letters off a day, Harry was fed up with the owls flying in and out of their camp site. He decided to confront her about it.

"Okay, I understand you have a family and they probably worry about you a lot but do you really have to send out five or six letters a day?" he asked, after the brown owl returned from it's third trip.

"Why do you care?" Jakki replied, letting the owl rest on her arm, and stroking its feathers before taking the letter from him. "Artemis has more cause to complain then you, and I haven't heard a hoot out of her in protest."

"Yeah well just wait and see!" Harry yelled, loosing his temper with her care-free attitude. "When Death Eaters show up here because they followed _your _owl here, then why don't you fight them all off then?"

"If that's what you want me to do just so I can talk to my family then fine," she growled in annoyance. "I'll fight off your Death Eaters for you."

He was close to screaming in rage; instead he just turned and walked off. No point in trying to argue with someone so impossible to argue with. He was just a few steps away she he heard her laughing behind him.

"Looks like you have no comment about that, now, do you, hero-boy?" she chuckled, unfolding her letter, checking to see who it was from; Jon and Michelle.

"Well, why would I have any comment about it?" he retorted quickly. "You try to fight them, you'll probably end up dead, and then I'll have my solution to your little letter problem, wouldn't I?"

"So that's all I'm here for!" Jakki suddenly seemed to get very upset about something, folding the letter back up and shoving it into her back jean pocket. "Just a distraction for the Death Eaters so you can get away well they're killing me off? That's the only reason you let me come with, isn't it? You just want me for that, aren't I right?"

"What?" Harry was suddenly very confused how she got so angry so fast. "You think I only wanted you to come with so I could watch you die?"

"Yeah, why not? It's the perfect solution for you, isn't it? Then you're girlfriend won't get mad at me, and your friends will be happy they can finally forget they have to avoid me? They hate me, too, don't they? They want to see me dead, too, don't they?"

Jakki's face turned bright red, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. Artemis the owl could sense her owner's distress and her feathers were getting ruffled as she flew off to a nearby tree. Every single inch of her was trembling in rage as she clenched her fists and her arms tensed by her sides.

"No, that's not what we think at all," Harry tried desperately to reassure her that she wasn't hated. "Ron and Hermione just don't think you're all that nice, and I think they're just a little scared that you'll jinx them if they say the wrong thing,"

"Well, then, I think they'll be more then happy when I leave." She huffed, more than fed up with all she had put up with. "I've never complained about anything this whole time, and now just when I wanna let my family, my best friend, and my boyfriend that I'm doing fine, I get chewed out for it! Thanks for the opportunity; it was really…what's the word…fun?"

She stalked off, her face was still very red and she still looked really mad. She had her suspicions for a while about the trio of friends plotting to leave her somewhere or find some way to get rid of her.

… … …

"Well, she has seemed a bit paranoid lately," Hermione said after Harry had told his friends of his little battle with Jakki. "Maybe she's always thought we were going to do something like that. I mean, none of us have given her any reason to think we didn't."

"Can you blame us?" Ron lounged back against a rock, not looking at all concerned by the recent squabble. "She hasn't made an effort to even pretend to tolerate us."

"Neither have we, so we're as much to blame as she is." Hermione countered, she would have loved to have had the chance to be joined by another girl, but on meeting Jakki, her outlook had changed. "Maybe one of us should go talk to her. Tell her she's not so hated."

"You can talk to her then," Harry said, after his little chat with her, he didn't want to go back for another verbal whiplash for the one-girl-battalion.

"Yeah," Ron sat up a little, annoyed enough with the other girl without being yelled at for something. "You think it'll help, then you can try."

"Fine, maybe I will," Hermione sniffed, walking off, with her head held high, like she use to do at school when she was so sure she was right about something and was off to the library to prove it. Memories like that, from their school days, always would haunt their now troubled lives.

"I can't believe those boys sometimes…" Hermione muttered darkly as she wondered through the terrible excuse of a forest. There was a small spring relatively nearby that she often saw Jakki at, writing, reading, talking with her owl, or just simply sitting by herself. Feeling only slightly guilty she was treading on the other girl's only sanctuary…if it could even be called that.

Before she actually got close enough to see the spring she could hear Jakki half-yelling half-sobbing as the soft thudding played in the background. As she came closer though, she saw Jakki full-heartedly punching and kicking trees and rocks in the little alcove-like area around the spring. The poor girl was causing herself more pain than she would ever admit to, tears of true sorrow, and very little pain leaking through her eyes and streaming down her cheeks.

Hermione stood off a bit, not wanting to interrupt the girl's rage. Now she felt extreamly guilty for seeking her out, and creeping into her small domain. With one final cry of rage she hit a low branch of a small, sturdy tree, snapping it almost all the way through.

Jakki dropped to the ground, her energy totally depleted. She collapsed into half-curled up position, with her face in the dirt, with her hair hiding most of her face, utterly tangled and slightly curled with the perspiration on her scalp. Her dark purple top soaked around her neck and under her arms, with dirt and grass-stains smeared everywhere, leaves and twigs were stuck to her at random by sap from the trees she had attacked. Everything was going wrong for her, and she just felt like running home. She needed to be with the people who loved her, not those who loathed her.

"Jeshickah?" Hermione whispered, slowly walking over to her.

"Don't call me that!" she screamed bolting up right, pulling her wand out of the back of her shirt and misdirecting a jinx and blowing up a tree. "No one calls me that!"

"Oh, sorry," Hermione shrugged slightly, holding up her hands in apology, "I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Really? About what?" Jakki wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees, reluctantly letting tears leak down her cheeks, and wiping them away furiously. Avoiding Hermione's gaze, she stared at the grass, apparently fascinated by it. Jakki was always intent on not letting others in on her emotions and feelings, she liked to hide them, a trait she had learned from her brother and his friends. "You looking to reassure me that you and they guys don't want me dead? That you actually want to make friends with me?"

"Actually, yes," Hermione looked slightly uncomfortable, but tried not to show it to the blonde. "Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"Do what ever the bloody hell you want, I don't really care anymore." More tears squeezed out through Jakki's tightly shut eyelids. She really didn't want to cry anymore especially in front of one of the trio. Or again at least.

"I kind of know what you're going through." Hermione sighed, sitting down next to the other girls and playing with the long blades of grass. "I hate having to spend all this time with the boys; it's actually rather nice to have another girl around."

"Well then, that's where we differ." Jakki got up, wiping her face again, and going to lean against the tree with the broken branch. "I like hanging out with guys…most of the time more than with other girls. Travis says that's why he loves me." Her eyes kinda misted over as she thought about her boyfriend, then, yet again, and tears streamed down.

"Oh, see, I'm learning new things about you already!" Hermione said brightly, making a valiant effort to make friends with her. "Isn't it nice to talk things out with another girl sometimes?"

"No." Jakki sniffed, gently trying to comb through her hair with her fingers, "If I wanted to talk about me feelings, and paint my nails, and play with my hair, then I'll call you, but right now, just leave. Otherwise, try to actually understand something very simple about me; I'm not a girly girl, I was raised by my father, my brother, and my brother's friends. My mother was hardly ever around, and I never had a real famine influence in my life. So if you want to even be someone I'm remotely okay with, then drop the girl-bonding act and just get to the point!"

"Fine, you want me to get to the point, then I'll get to the point," Hermione officially lost her temper with the girl. She shook her hair from her face tightly, and getting rather tense. "None of us really like you because we think you're stuck up and act like you're too good for us, and you only came to show us up as pompous as you are!"

"I thought so." She said shortly, "And, I guess you must already know it but that's what you guys come off to me as. So why don't we save ourselves all the trouble and I'll just quit. I'll go pack up and get directions home."

… … …

_This is the right thing to do. I know this is the right thing to do._ Jakki thought to herself, as she packed up her things, shoving everything back into her backpack. _Jon wants you to be back home, Trav wants you back, he was so mad when you left, and it was wrong to leave Ace all by herself when she was going through all this. You know you gotta go back home, you gotta go back and stay with your family. How else could you enjoy your life? With those who hate you, or those who love you?_

"Jakki?" _now who wants to try to cheer me up?_ "Don't leave."

"We decided you're a great addition to the team, and we really want you to stay."_ So now they've ganged up to make me feel guilty._

"We were wrong to make you feel like such an outcast."

"No," Jakki stood up, zipping her bag, and shaking her hair off her shoulders. "You made it quite clear; you don't want me around here any more."

"Jakki, stop," Harry yet again had to play the hero, coming up to her, grabbing her wrist, and making her set it back down. "My friends have been making a huge effort to be at least decent to you, and you've just been outright rude to them! I didn't bring you with me just to get mad at my friends and leave; I brought you because I knew you'd be a great strength addition…"

"Wrong!" she yelled, pulling her wrist out of his grip and throwing her bag over her shoulder. "I told you I knew I'd be able to help and I said I'd follow you if you tried to leave me behind. So don't even say _you _thought to bring me, when it was the polar opposite!"

"Okay, but still," deciding that it was best not to make her any angrier than she already was. "Do you really want to give up on your revenge?"

"It's not my revenge, it's Mercey's," she whispered, wiping away a few tears as she walked over to collect her broom and cloak, it may have been a hot day but it was always cold when flying. "She'd never do anything for it. There're some things you wouldn't understand about her, reasons why she really can't face a Death Eater, no mater what the cause."

"Don't you get that it doesn't matter to us," Ron looked a little uncomfortable talking to her, maybe he still believed Hermione's first impression; Jakki was trying to steal Harry away from his sister. "We don't really care why you're here, just as long as you can help us."

"Yeah," Jakki threw her cloak around her shoulders, facing the sky through the clearing in the trees. "Well, it seems to me like I'll be more help if I just leave. Besides, these are our dark days and if they really are the last days I'll be alive, or the last days my friends and family are, I'd rather be with them for it, I never got the chance to say a real goodbye to them anyway."

"Seems to me like you're running away from the problems you should be facing," Hermione added huffily, trying to make her angry enough to stay, Jakki was a confusing girl, and if the boys weren't having any luck with there method, it was time for a new one."

"I'm not running away from anything," Jakki replied, mentally running down the checklist of things she may have forgotten. "I'm going to face the problems I ran from. Forget it though, you'd never understand."

"Tell me, I want to understand!" Hermione urged, she had something now, a small nibble on her line, while the boys were still casting out. "I really would like another girl here, I don't mean to offend the boys, but sometimes all I need is another girl to talk to."

"Good luck finding her then," mounting her broom and preparing to kick off, Jakki sarcastically smiled and waved them off. "I'm not that type of girl."

About to give up hope, Hedwig flew in to deliver Harry a letter. He had unfolded it and was reading it just as Jakki crouched to kick the ground far below her and begin her journey home. Home would be nice after all the nights in the open after all.

"Wait," he said, his eyes flipping back to the top of the parchment to reread it. "Ginny's found the last horcrux; we're all going back to Godric's Hallow now."

Jakki paused, her legs tense for the leap into the air. Every muscle in her body had frozen. Except her heart which was now pounding twice as fast as normal. _I don't know what a horcrux is, but it's taking me home, and it's a lead on Ace's revenge. But, I have to bring them with, and I have to see this battle through now. I think its good news, but it just screwed me over._

Only a few moments ticked by, but they lasted for a lifetime. Anger, depression, envy; they had all been bubbling up inside her for the last few weeks. Now they had all retreated from, and were replaced by one emotion so strong they had no choice but to leave. Fear was now the only thing Jakki could feel. Fear.

… … …

_**A/N:** finally finished! This took me the longest to write, I put a lot more thought into exploring Jakki's reactions to being thrown into a group she wasn't welcome in. As you can see, no matter how strong and how hard-hearted she may seem, she's still human and she still wants to fit in, she just doesn't show it so much. Also, Mercey (her nickname is Ace if that confused you) has a very interesting history I can't wait to probe but I'd like to warn you of just one thing before I get into the next chapter and catch you off guard with it: Mercey has a very PG-13, maybe even R rated history, so I'm just giving you the heads-up now. _

_Anyways, hope you liked this one! I've already begun the next, but who knows how long it'll take me to write that! Happy reading, my loyal fans!_


	5. Going Home At Last

_**Going Home at Last**_

_Masquerades chapter five_

… ……

Hatred set in fast. Hatred for Mercey's mother, Katrina's, death. Hatred for having to go home with the people she was trying to escape. Hatred for having to have to go away in the first place. And most of all, hatred for the man who caused it all.

That hatred rose up hot, melting the fear that had frozen her. Her muscles gave way, and Jakki found herself on the ground, with a very sore bottom. Sure, now she could finally go home without having to fight her way free from the tangled web of the trio that was keeping her there.

Hermione automatically came to help Jakki back up again but she just shrugged it off and got up on her own, rubbing her sore backside.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked as she walked back to Ron, letting her put his arms around her in a semi-protective, almost unconscious way.

"Ginny? Are you telling me you put my little sister to work but you won't let her join us, here?" he asked, resting his chin on the top of Hermione's head.

"Well, she volunteered and I've been too busy to do it myself, so," he shrugged, feeling a little helpless, and sorry for not tell Ron sooner. "I meant to tell you but things with Jakki just got out of hand and I forgot."

"What?" Jakki exclaimed, "So I _am_ just a problem here! Maybe I _should_ just leave if that's what you think." She huffed up again, picking her broom up from where it was dropped.

"That's not what I meant!" Harry rubbed a hand over his face, looking exhausted and overworked. "I'm getting rather tired of being mediator here. Can't we all just set aside all problems

"_You_ can all do that, but I'm not gonna be sucked into your little child's television show life." Jakki laughed slightly, leaning a bit on her broom, semi-bored with the current goings-on in her little quest, even if it was a life-changing event, not to mention one of revenge. "I have some real drama I have to deal with, some things you just wouldn't understand."

"Like what?" Ron spat, fed up with the new girl's nerve. "What's more important than stopping You-Know-Who?"

"I never said it was more important than _that_," she sighed, fingering the bristles of the twigs on her broom. "I only said it was more important than sitting here and being ridiculed."

… … …

After some persuasion, Jakki agreed to wait of the trio to pack up. Grudgingly she agreed, to stay with them on the adventure, to lead them back to her home, and at some point tell Harry, at least, some of her darker secrets.

She had always kept as much of her past secret as she could, but any time it snowed, or anything about the Death Eaters or the Dark Lord in the news, she just had to be on her own. She had missed a lot of classes during the last three days of school. Only her friends knew why, and they weren't telling. But now, at what possible could be the end of her days, someone else had to know. So maybe they could draw some kind of strength from her twisted pains.

The flight back to Godric's Hallow was a quiet one. Jakki was completely silent; the others only talked sparingly all of them lost mostly in their own thoughts. Jakki decided not just to tell Harry, but all three. After all they had a right to know why she had closed them all off and been such a pain to live with.

… … …

"We can't stay at my house." Jakki said when they landed in the nearby park. "My mum and dad will ask too many questions. I can't put them through all of this. We can't go to my brother's either, he'll tell."

"Then where can we set up out base?" Harry asked; he was the only one who would really talk to her any more. She didn't mind though, she'd rather they knew the truth before they chose to talk to her or not.

"Mercey's," she said, taking a breath as she sat on a swing and looked up at the newly night-fallen sky. "We should be safe there. None of the Death Eaters will think to go back there, and neither will my family. Besides, I have some secrets to share, and I don't think I'll be able to if they knew."

"Okay then," he pushed away his questions about her new change of behavior. "Where did she live then?"

… … …

Jakki was the first to land on the doorstep to the blue and white country house. The door had been ripped off its hinges, and set back up against the doorframe, halfway blocking the only way in. Harry, Ron, and Hermione dropped down behind her.

"Is it okay for us to go in?" one of them asked, Jakki wasn't listening well enough to know which one, and she didn't turn to see. Shock was an emotion she wasn't a stranger to, depression often followed.

She nodded, but didn't move. Beyond the door, she could see the shattered remains of the entryway to the familiar house. Beyond the door was a room totally foreign to her, even though she practically grew up in it.

"Jakki, are you okay?" Another one asked, again she nodded mechanically without even realizing what she was doing, or what that someone had said. She just knew they expected her to say yes, or somehow answer affirmatively, so she did.

"Jakki!" her knees dropped out from beneath her, her sight went dark, and her mind went blank. She fainted right then and there, she didn't usually faint, but she had been keeping herself awake too much, she hadn't been eating well, and more devastating events had been happening to her recently. She had ran off with Harry not just because she wanted revenge but she was also running from her problems. Too many things were finally taking their toll on her mind and body…fainting seemed like the only subconscious choice she could come up with.

… … …

The boys maneuvered Jakki and the rest of their gear into the house, and managed to find a clear spot on the carpet in the family room to set her down on. Hermione huffed about it a bit, thinking the other girl had only used the faint as a ploy to get out of explaining things to them.

Jakki woke up about a half and hour later. Her face was pale, and her head pounded with every heartbeat. She groaned quietly as she sat up, and saw everyone sleeping propped up against the wall. She sighed as she looked around and the overturned furniture and smashed glass from Katrina's beloved angel figurines. She would have cried if it wasn't for her need to be strong when she told the others her secrets and explained about her withdrawal from them.

She walked carefully through the mess and to the kitchen. She searched the room for anything she could possibly salvage. She found some tea and a stack of Styrofoam cups, and made herself some tea while she waited for the others to wake up. No use putting off the inevitable any longer she thought as she hopped up onto the cleared off counter. Sipping her hot drink, she looked around sadly. Nothing had been spared when the Death Eaters had ravaged the house; even the counter she was sitting on was magically scorched. She always knew they'd come back to the house, and always begged Katrina and Mercey to move away from the house.

… … …

Slowly, the others woke and joined her in the kitchen, fixing and tipping chairs back onto their legs to sit in. she offered and made them all a cup of tea as well.

"Why are you being so nice now?" Hermione asked, after all she had tried and failed to be friends with her.

"I've been using you, I realized, and want to tell you why," Jakki shrugged. "Well, that's half the reason; also, I think if I'm going to be helping you out in this war, you should know some of the reasons why I am like I am."

"I don't understand," Harry shook his head, trying to clear away the fine spider webs of sleep from his brain.

"You will, don't worry. I owe you the biggest apology." She said softly. "I've hated you and blamed you for things I knew weren't even really your fault. I didn't mean to, I just did, it's just what seemed to happen since Mercey told me her mum's secret, and even what happened to Viktorya before that."

"You're really not making any sense," Ron chimed in.

"I'll start with Viktorya then, since that's the beginning." Jakki sighed, and pushed aside Katrina's memory, making room for the ones associated with the current topic. "Viktorya was my baby sister; she was four when she died. I was nine, and Jon was already fifteen that winter. He was at school, and it was only a few days till he would be coming home for the break. It had just snowed and Mercey and I were going to go to the park to go sledding. I was so looking forward to a day without my tag-along sister. Mum made me take her with. I remember her telling me to keep a close eye on her so she wouldn't get hurt."

Her voice caught in her throat, and her eyes glazed over with tears. "I was trying to forget about Tory while I was sledding with my best friend. She fell down; her coat caught on a branch and ripped. She got snow in her shirt because of that. Mercey and I didn't know she was cut and bleeding as well as freezing in the snow. Mercey noticed first, and we ran her back to my house as fast as we could. Mum sealed the wound, wrapped Tory in blankets and did everything she could to warm her up. It didn't work too well though, because she got a really bad cold and just never got better. She was in St. Mongo's two days later. Little Tory wasn't even there twenty-four hours before she died. Jon wasn't due home for another three days but they sent him home anyway.

"That was the only time I ever saw my brother cry," she shook her head and tears streamed down her still slightly paled cheeks. "He hugged me and told me it wasn't my fault. Everyone told me the same thing, but I knew it was. I've always been scared of having Tory tell me it was true…that I killed her…my own sister." She looked up desperately at them, as if they would have the answer.

Hermione's eyes welled up a bit, and Ron looked quickly away. Harry just stared at her. "What does this have to do anything?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "I just thought maybe it would help you kinda understand me. It's also like a warning…mum, dad, and Jon are really protective of me because of it."

"You still aren't making any sense," Ron said, as Jakki dried her eyes.

"Well, it will, that's just one of my secrets." Jakki sighed, refilling her cup with tea._ I should have known not to tell them…no one ever gets the point of the story_. "I have my own never-ending resentment for You-Know-Who, and it's not because he killed my best friend's mum…actually if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have my friend, Mercey."

"I don't get it," Ron had apparently tried adding things up in his head, and was still making no sense to him.

"Well, that's why I'm telling the story." She rolled her eyes, anything to keep her from getting upset again. "Katrina, Mercey's mum, was a Muggle. Mercey's dad, I don't know his name, was, and I think still is, a wizard. Mercey's kind of like the opposite of a love child. She showed up at my house one day, the summer before we started third year, and she looked really upset. I didn't know what the big deal was so we went down to the park to talk. Mercey's never keep any secrets from me, and I've got no secret from her. It was weird, but she always told me she was a fatherless Mudblood, no offense to you, Hermione, but now she said that she had been laying to me about that…actually her mother had been lying to me about that…it's confusing, it'll make more sense after I explain. Anyway, she told me that her father was a wizard, although she never met him, and didn't even know if he was alive or dead…we still don't know.

"She had me so confused there, I though I was going to lose my mind if I didn't figure it out. As it was, her mother had been lying to her; Mercey's dad wasn't really a fantastic one-true-love for Katrina, far from it actually. Mercey's dad was a wizard, a Death Eater actually. He had broken into this house, intent on torturing and killing any Muggles inside with his little gang. Katrina was raped, beaten, and left for dead." She paused for a second, trying to remember the order of events after that. "My parents stopped by to check up on her, and show off Jon, since he was almost six at the time. My dad and Katrina had been neighbors growing up, and even sweethearts in school for a time. They liked to stay caught up with each other.

"My mum knew what had happened the moment they could see the house." Jakki's eyes started welling up again. "Mum found her and did all she could with her magic before taking her to a Muggle Hospital for help. She ended up healing just fine, only a few little scares here and there, but what's life without something to show for it, and nine months later, Mercey. There's a story behind why my best friend got her name but that's not the point."

"Is that why you wanted to come with?" Harry asked slowly, slowly understanding.

Jakki nodded, "I always associated you with it, Harry. I blamed you for a while after I knew, and I guess I just never let it go. I know it's not your fault now though…I mean, after all, you couldn't control them any more that I could, and after all, neither of us were born yet."

"It's okay; I'm use to being blamed for things that aren't my fault." He sighed.

"I'm not blaming you…" she blushed a little. "Actually, I did until I said I wanted to go with you. That's why I was such a beast to you. I'm just a little too slow to catch onto something I don't want to."

Ron looked away, he wasn't sure how either of the stories really justified her behavior but he felt bad for treating her so horribly all the same.

The four of them all felt rather uncomfortable in the trashed kitchen. Jakki just looked into her cup, swirling the tea first in one direction, then in the other. Hermione uncharacteristically twisted hair around her fingers, and inspected the ends, she wanted to say something, but she was too embarrassed to. Both boys looked out opposite windows, trying not to do anything odd.

None the same all of them felt more than a little guilty for their past actions. Jakki knew she shouldn't have been so secluded and quickly angered, just because of a few "minor" secrets.

There was a noise outside and everyone grabbed their wands to go see who it was. Sneaking quietly back into the little living room and hiding on the wall by the doorframe, they heard a girl curse. The voice was totally unfamiliar to Ron and Hermione, slightly familiar to Harry, and Jakki froze, turning white. Jakki knew just who it was who had spoken, she knew just who it was who would be coming through the door.

It was who she had dreaded; short, curly, russet brown hair gave her a way the second she came in. Jakki immediately regretted telling the second story now, especially since Mercey herself had just walked in.

… … …

_**A/N**: I'm so incredible sorry it took me so long to get this done…I've kinda been at a loss for…I donno, I guess I have no excuse, but still I'm so sorry! I've just been spending too much time watching the original Japanese version of Naruto on Youtube…no excuse I know, but it's my new obsession, I can't help it!! Anyway, you gotta review me, I hope this cleared up some of the confusion from the last chapter, and I'd like to especially thank one of my good friends who gave me the idea for Mercey's past…you should know who you are. Thankies, hun!!_


	6. Reunions Compared

_**Reunions Compared**_

_Masquerades chapter six_

………

Jakki crashed against the wall she had been hiding behind, and regretted it the second she did.

"Is someone here?" Mercey's voice floated through the trashed rooms. "I swear to god, if you don't show yourself, I'll blast you in pieces! I'll do it, too, I'm not afraid. I hate anyone who works from _him_."

"Lower your wand, Ace," the blonde witch sighed and stepped out to meet her friend. "It's just me,"

"Jakki?" there were tears on the other girl's face; her voice hadn't betrayed that now. "What are you doing here; I thought you were camping out with the Gryffindor goodie-goodies."

"I had to see this for myself, I guess," she lied, and went to hug her, tears running down her cheeks as well. "You too, right?"

"Oh, Jakki," Mercey started crying, and dropped her head on her friends shoulder. "I just can't stand it. I can't just sit around and listen to people going on with their lives when I just can't. You're mum, she just went back to work that next day after you left, she just went to work that morning, came home that night, and pretended nothing was wrong. Jon came over a few days thought, he just kinda gave me a hug and said things would be okay."

"It is, though," Jakki said quietly. "If not yet, it will be soon, I promise…I'm going to kill him for you…I promise I will."

The brunette didn't say anything, she just sobbed quietly. She didn't need to say anything, it wouldn't have mattered if she did or didn't anyway, the blonde got her best friend better than anything. Without words, they could understand each other, no sounds, not even a look; if one was upset or hurt, the other knew instantly. They were almost two halves of the same person; their minds worked the same, even when they didn't know it, they would be feeling the same. No words necessary…almost never.

… … …

Harry set out early the next morning on his own, not bothering to wake anyone up. He was sure that, somehow, his friends and Jakki wouldn't be arguing while he was gone. Ron would know where he went immediately, as would Hermione. Jakki would probably not even notice now that she had her own friend with her, she wouldn't even care if the other two left as well. It was safe to leave them with each other, for the time being…no telling how long it would take Harry to escape after destroying the horcrux, and how long it would take Lord Voldemort to find out about it, find him and his accomplices, and attack.

Mercey hadn't slept at all, she pretended to be asleep as she heard Harry get up and leave. Everything was still and silent yet, early in the morning, the false dawn past, the sun starting to peek over the horizon.

It was a while yet before anyone woke up. Jakki was first again.

"You didn't sleep, did you?" she yawned when she saw the other Ravenclaw sitting in the shattered window, picking up pieces of glass and attempting to put them back into place.

"Couldn't, nightmares," a glass shard slipped into place, and fused perfectly with the rest of the shattered pane, she sighed and searched for the next piece.

"You should probably go back to my house, you can let everyone know I'm okay, just don't tell them where I am, I don't want anyone to follow me yet." Jakki stretched and fished her wand out from its place in the back of her shirt. "You do know there's a faster way to do that, right?"

"Yeah, but I just feel better doing it like this," Mercey smiled; half-hearted as it was, at least it was a real smile. "Kind of like putting my life back together again, I guess…symbolism, it's my thing, you know that."

The other girl smiled back and they watched the sun continue rising over the horizon, while slipping shards of glass back into the pane and watching the seams slip together.

The others took a while longer to wake up, and they were quiet but seemed a little suspicious to what was going on. With Harry gone there was no one to mediate any fights that would probably end up breaking out between the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws. Four teenagers, all around seventeen, mutual distrust flashing between them, semi-forced to stay at peace in one tiny and destroyed farmhouse. Just how long could they last?

… … …

It was a little after noon by the time the mediator came back, and miraculously there had been no fights. Some glares and scowls but no fights; fist fights or word wars, none.

"You find out anything?" Ron asked.

"Enough," Harry replied, short on words and on breath as it seemed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mercy demanded, her temper was even shorter than Jakki's when it got down to it, and she hated people who didn't full explain themselves when asked.

Jakki put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. "Don't give him a hard time, Ace; it's not the time to be fighting with anyone."

"It's okay," Harry shrugged. "Maybe it's best if we all get worked up. With luck like we've had recently, we might just as well have Voldemort" (Jakki and Mercey flinched noticeably, while Ron and Hermione bearly blinked at the name) "on our tails tonight."

The two Ravenclaw girls gasped and turned white, neither knowing exactly how to react. The only thing they knew at the moment was fear. The other Gryffindors hardened their faces; they looked like they were already ready for war.

War; surely that was what they were sitting on the brink of. After all, the whole of the wizarding world _was _at war, but hearing of the ministry readying for war, and knowing you were sitting at the brink of it were two totally different states of mind.

"You got the horcrux then, didn't you?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence, but still no one had moved. "He'll be tracking you back here, now, won't he?"

Harry nodded, looking calm, but his eyes were scared. His fear was nearly hidden but still noticeable.

"I gotta go, then," Mercey turned and ran to the little hallway she had left her broom in. "I can't stay here, I can't face him, I can't face any of _them _either. I leave."

"Ace, don't, I need you here with me, I can't do it on my own," Jakki fallowed, blocking the doorway so her friend couldn't leave. "Don't leave me alone with the goodie-goodies to fight on my own. I'll never make it."

"I can't do it though, Jaks, you _know _I can't," she shook her head and squeezed the handle of her broom. "I won't tell your mum and dad you're here, but Travis and Jon, I'll send them here to help you."

Jakki turned her head away, she couldn't stand Mercey's stare anymore. _Jon, he deserves to know. He's my protector, he'd never forgive me if I went against You-Know-Who, died and he didn't even know where I was. I can't put him through that either. And Travis, he'll be mad enough at me already. I want to see him again before I die, too. I'm sorry for leaving them behind. I didn't even give them a good enough reason about why I left. They at least deserve that._

Her hands dropped down from the beaten doorframe and she stepped away. She didn't look up when Mercey passed, but just before the girl took off, the blonde girl whispered something. Only Mercey heard it, and she smiled to herself.

"Tell them both I love them, and I'm sorry."

… … …

The afternoon passed tensely. No one talked, but everyone knew how everyone else was feeling. When it finally came to sunset, everyone was so tense, it was like they had been bowstrings pulled tight and ready to fire.

Jon Apparated on the little patch of the front lawn left from the destruction. "Jakki!" he yelled, marching toward the house.

Tension eased for the girl, but no one else, everyone else just stiffened up a little. She ran out the door, jumped and wrapped her arms around her older brother's neck. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she sobbed, almost being crushed by the man.

"It's okay, don't be sorry," he soothed her, holding in his tears. "Mercey already told me everything. You don't have to be sorry, I understand. I understand why you did everything. I just wish you would have told me earlier."

"I know, I should have, I'm so sorry." she didn't let go of her brother; she never wanted to see him go again. They had gone whole school years without seeing each other, but the month and a half they had been apart this time was way too long for either of them. Everyday she had been scared, and every day he had been scared for her. Neither knew if they would ever see each other again.

"Who else knows?"

"Just you and Mercey, I think. She's supposed to tell Travis, too, but I don't know."

"Thanks for trusting me, then,"

"Every time…I always trust you."

Travis landed his broom right behind the two of them. Jakki saw him over Jon's shoulder. She whispered his name, slowly letting go of her brother. Jon knew what was happening and let her go to him.

Slowly Jakki walked up to him, and froze about a foot away. Neither spoke for a while.

"I missed you," Travis said at last, still not moving.

Jakki remained silent, even though she knew he wanted her to say it back. Jon, who still standing next to his sister, put a hand on her shoulder. She gasped softly, dropped her head and new tears fell down her cheeks. The two most important guys in her life, besides her father, had both come to see her; she was almost completely overcome by the emotions that were fighting to show themselves.

She jumped forward suddenly, and hugged her boyfriend close. He buried his head in her hair, and she cried into his shoulder. "Never leave me again," he half whispered, holding her as if the second he let go she would disappear into nothingness.

"I won't, I promise."

… … …

As Harry had predicted, Death Eaters started to arrive at the little farmhouse. Jakki was soon drawn away from her brother and boyfriend to fight with a Death Eater with a fondness for older curses and jinxes. The trio of Gryffindors were also broken up to fight on there own, too.

Jakki ran to the little patch of trees behind the house when she saw another Death Eater coming her way. She had no intention of trying to fight on the shallow end of a two-on-one battle, but if she absolutely had to, she wanted to do it on her turf. She had played around in the small wooded area when she was little and she knew almost every tree as well as she knew the few trees in her own yard. She also knew there was a little brook that ran through the trees that was just wide enough and deep enough to bog down someone in long robes.

The Death Eaters that pursued her into the woods both wore long back robes. Jakki, herself, wore only jeans and a t-shirt, leaving her robes up at the house. She didn't have a need for them because of the heat so she hadn't even worn them since she got back to the house.

A curse shot over her shoulder, and she chanced glance back. The second wizard was hot on her heels and seemed to be getting annoyed with all the running she was making them do.

"Come on, girly, stop running and let me kill you!" he yelled to her, as she leapt up into a tree by the brook. Just a few more feet and they would be in place for her trick. "It'll be over before you know it, so just stop running," –just a bit more- "and face up to it, like a real witch."

A jet of blue light shot up through the browning leaves, missing her by a good foot and a half. It scared her but she wasn't far from her goal now. One great jump from one tree to the next. Two trees leaned together over the brook, and it only took one jump to get from one sturdy branch to the next and over the water. Her ankle twisted when she landed and she gasped in pain. She was over the brook, but it was going to be hard to climb down and still run with a twisted ankle.

"Come on, thick-heads," she taunted when she made it to the ground, _mum had that spell for a wrap, I wish I could remember it now! _She thought hard for the spell as she shouted her taunts at the two wizards trailing after her. "It's not that hard to catch a little girl, now is it?"

_Think, think, think,_ she scolded herself as she hobbled away from the water, using as many trees as she could for support. _Jon will know, if I can find him, then I'll be saved. Jon, where'd you go?_ A splash behind her told her the Death Eaters had reached the brook. Now they weren't far behind her, which spelled trouble for her; the less space between them, the more likely she was to be hit by a curse or jinx.

There was a flash of greenish-white light far to her left, blinding light, and a bang like a peel of thunder. The Death Eaters behind her stopped dead half way across the brook, water up to their knees. She stopped too, there were trees that blocked out most of the light, but there were still enough light beams to leave spots in her vision like camera flashes.

"No," she whispered. Green, the only thing she knew about that color flash was that it came from the Killing Curse. There were people she cared about scattered around the yard, and each one had the possibility of being the recipient of that curse.

Splashes started up again, but they weren't getting closer or softer, the wet wizards were running down the brook now, not across it any more. They were heading toward the flash, not her. She took the chance to get out of the woods and look for anyone she knew.

Travis laid not too far from her at the tree lie, bleeding and looking a little worse for wear but over all, she wasn't dead and there weren't any serious injuries from what she could tell. She limped to him, and away from the flash.

"Travis," she whimpered slightly, falling down next to him with no hint of grace and wrapped her arms around her. "You're alive." She started to tear up and sob, one safe, but two were still unknown. Mercey had returned but was only seen, she went on her own to throw off her own Death Eaters before she had the chance to even talk to anyone.

_Two out of five chances it's someone _I_ love that's hurt,_ she thought, not bothering to include the numerous others in the woods. _Jon and Mercey, they're still out there…please let them still be alive._

… … …

_**A/N: **__sorry, sorry, I can't believe it's taken me so long to write this chapter…really, I'm sorry about that. Good thing Order of the Phoenix comes out soon or I wouldn't've been so inspired. I really wanna finish this before _Deathly Hallows _is out, but I probably won't make it…I promise to try! But three more days and I leave for Montana for a whole week; I get back the day the book comes out so I literally have three days to finish the two chapters I have left. TWO CHAPTERS!!!! Can you stand it, this is almost over, I'm so proud of myself, this'll be the first multi-chapter story I've ever finished!! Stay with me, and don't forget to review, okay?_


	7. To Bring End to the War

_**To Bring End to the War**_

_Masquerades chapter seven_

... … …

Travis only held consciousness long enough to nod slightly to the crying Jakki and whisper something.

"I saw…Jon…" it was quiet, if there had been any noises in the trees closest to them, Jakki would never have heard it. "He's… alive…flash was…in the opposite…direction… from him…"

At first when he fell unconscious, Jakki thought he had died, but when she put her head down on his chest she could still feel it raising and falling with his breathing. _Jon's alive, _she thought with some relief. _But there's still Mercey, I need to know._

She looked around desperately for a stick sturdy enough to hold her ankle ridged, but there were none suitable close by. _Jon, where are you? You know the charm mum used on us when we were little…on me, really, I always broke things when I tagged along behind you and Ricky._

Jon and Jakki were on a line, it seemed, if one was in trouble, the other knew. They had something like the telepathy twins shared, and their mother had always referred to it as their 'special line'. The line came in hand more often than not, and at the moment it seemed to have pulled through to help. Jon came crashing through the tree line not more than ten feet from his sister.

"Jon!" she yelled and waved to him, flagging him over to where she was half kneeling next to her unconscious boyfriend. He noticed immediately and ran to her.

There was blood trickling down from a minor gash on his temple, and blood was smeared back into his hair line from the times he had tried to wipe it out of his eye. His hair was a light brown mess, matted down to his forehead with sweat and blood. His robes were torn open in several places revealing more small scrapes. None of his abrasions were in need of immediate care, although the head wound was bleeding without stop. A flash-memory of Viktorya lying in the snow bleeding bombarded Jakki's thoughts momentarily, and she hastily pushed them away.

"You're okay, aren't you?" she asked, she knew he was but she just had to ask anyway.

"I'm fine," he smiled at her, big brothers are always fine was his message though she knew he thought it inappropriate to say at the time. "What about you, you look terrible."

For the first time, she looked down at herself to see what damages had been acquired since she left the broken down house. She hadn't donned her cloak at all that day, because it was hot that day and there was no need for it, but her jeans were ripped and blood-stained now from a long jagged cut on her thigh along with a few other thorn-caught rips in denim and flesh. Her shirt also bore a few tears due to thorns and twigs, and there was one blood spot on her chest from when she wiped her bleeding hand across the shirt. Her hair was just barely holding onto the French braid it had been put into that morning, and matted down to her neck and face. Jon had hit the nail on the head, she really did look _terrible._

"All's good," she said reluctantly and worked her twisted ankle out from under her and onto his lap (as he had moved to sit next to her when he arrived). "But, something's twisted, sprained, stretched, or broke in my ankle. I'd fix it myself but I can't remember Mum's Bracing Charm. Could you do it for me?"

He nodded quickly and muttered the spell. Immediately her ankle was painlessly set back to the proper angle, as stiff and ridged as if she had put it into a cast. She mentally scolded herself for not remembering the incantation as she stood and tested it out. "Perfect, thanks," she said and turned to run to the light's flash. It was gone, but she knew where it had been, she knew the farmyard like she knew the pattern on her Moshi's black and white coat. "Take care of Travis; I gotta go see what that explosion was."

"You're not going alone," he grabbed her arm as she turned away. "He'll be fine here, after all, the Death Eaters all ran already."

"No, someone has to be here in case he wakes up again," she said, looking down at him with a bit of fear for him flashing across her eyes. "Besides, I… well, I…erm…"

"If it makes you feel any better, I can Apparate him to the house," he had already hoisted the seventeen-year-old boy onto his shoulders in a fireman's carry and stood. Of course he was strong; he had a younger tag-along sister that he had to carry around when she got hurt. "If you just stay here for a second more, I'll be back and I'll go with you."

She thought for a while, hesitating on weather or not she really wanted to wait that long to go see what was going on. If she refused it would be longer to verbally fight her way away from her brother. "Fine, but hurry, please, I can't stand not knowing anymore."

"I know, Mercey's still out there somewhere," he replied, a sad look on his face. "Promise you'll stay put?"

"Promise to hurry?"

They smiled at each other before Jon turned on the spot and disappeared with a crack. Waiting had always been hard for Jakki, as she was incredibly impatient and just wanted to get going and do something. That was one way she justified bringing a book with her everywhere, that way if she had to wait she could read. But she didn't have a book at the time, why carry a book somewhere when you're being attacked? Also, the wait seemed longer because she was so impatient to see what the greenish-white flash was.

He was back in a matter of minutes and they ran off. She knew where it was, she just _knew_. It was useless to Apparate since the exact location was about as exact as knowing that Hogwarts was outside London.

… … …

There was a clearing now where the unused stable had been. Wood boards were scattered now, sticking up out of the ground in a million different angles. The paddock-turned-cornfield next to it was blown away in a curved shape like a poorly-made crop circle. Standing in the middle of the circle of the disaster was a black-haired young man with glasses, and two bodies slumped in front of him, one closer than the other.

"Harry!" Jakki yelled as soon as she was in shouting-range of him, and running ahead, Jon held back, he had only gone with so she wouldn't go alone. He was still scared for her, even though he knew it was really over now…forever.

The black haired man turned to her with an odd look on his face. It was like guilt and shame mixed with finality and a little touch of happiness. She went up to him and looked confused for a moment before she looked down at the two bodies now behind him.

She saw the furthest one first; an odd pale body that almost glowed in the dwindling light. The face was upturned with red eyes wide open and staring at the darkening sky without end, everything about him looked snake-like and like a corpse. It was her first real look at lord Voldemort and she was glad she never saw him when he was alive.

Her gaze drifted to the other body laying on it side with reddish brown curls obscuring the face. Immediately upon seeing the hair color, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in shock.

"Mercey..." she whispered, dropping down at her knees next to the body of her best friend. Rolled over to her back, the girl's dark brown eyes were blank and empty, looking up without seeing anything; she was also dead.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kill her, she came running by when it happened," he said, sounding as guilty as he could have possibly been, not knowing if it was good or bad that she didn't look up. "There was a Death Eater chasing her that looked a lot like her. He had the same color hair and eyes. I think it was… Jakki, are you okay?"

"How do you think I feel, Hero-boy?" she looked up with tears in her eyes, not angry with him, just upset and frustrated that she couldn't have come sooner. "My _best friend _is dead now, and she didn't even want to be here. She was only here 'cause I begged her to. It's all my fault."

Jon came and let her cry on his shoulder, rocking her back and forward. He remembered the last time she had cried like that; it was when their sister had died. Jakki tried to never cry, she always thought she was too tough to be beaten by tears.

"Really, I'm sorry-" Harry started again; by this time Hermione and Ron had come to join the congregation.

"Just don't say anything, it's okay, really," Jon said quietly over his sisters sobs. "She's not angry, trust me. She's just upset, she takes deaths pretty hard. She'll be fine in the morning."

"We should go back up to the house," Hermione suggested, trying not to look at both the bodies and the crying girl.

"Yeah," Jakki tried to wipe her eyes, even though tears were still flowing down her cheeks. "Travis is there, and I want to be there when he wakes up."

"I'll get Mercey if the rest of you want to go ahead," Jon offered and the trio of Gryffindors nodded before leaving silently. Jakki stayed back, she didn't want to be apart from anyone she cared about at the time. She needed the comfort.

… … …

As soon as Travis woke up, they all made their way back to Godric's Hallow and back to the house next door to where it all began. It was nearly dawn. Mrs. Knight fussed over her children and their guest (she was a very welcoming person when it came to children, it was how she achieved a job in her department) when they came home battered and bruised, to which Jon explained. They were all given giant mugs of tea while she administered to their injuries.

"I called the order when I saw you all got back here," she said finishing up on her daughter and moving onto her son. "They're going over to the farm now to clean up any final Death Eaters they can find. And you three," –she pointed to Harry, Ron, and Hermione- "are to head back to the old headquarters. But first I'm going to clean you all up. You must have had quite a battle from what I can tell."

No one laughed at her joke, Jakki looked at her mother with a rather depressed look. "Mercey's dead, they got her back there."

Harry looked away, grateful that she had chosen not to blame him.

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Knight asked, assuming that the girl had come in unconscious. She stopped herself before saying anything else; she knew she was just being stupid. Of course Mercey was dead; they would have waited for her to gain consciousness before they transported her back here.

"I should go back home," Jon said, breaking the silence that was beginning to build again. "Michelle will be wondering where I've gone thins time."

"No need, I'm here," a pretty young woman with dark brown, almost black hair and vibrant sapphire blue eyes stood in the doorway of the kitchen in a frilly nightshirt and slippers just as frilly as the shirt.

Jon went to here immediately and hugged her close. Jakki looked away, and Travis put his hand on her knee, squeezing gently.

"She's been here since you left," Mrs. Knight said, putting a bandage on her daughter's last wound. "She told me you had gone off to get Jakki."

By this time Michelle was crying hysterically into his shoulder as he smoothed her hair and rocked with her. She nodded slowly in acknowledgement to her mother-in-law's statement.

"Now, Jakki, go up stairs and wake you're father, he's been worried sick about you." Jakki nodded and hopped down from the countertop while her mother went over to Harry. "I'll just fix your friends up and send them on their way, okay?"

She nodded again and went to the door. Michelle broke away from Jonathan long enough to give Jakki a hug. "Thank-you for not hating me,"

Jakki tried to smile and hugged her back, for the first time in her short time with the older woman, she actually felt somewhat familiar with her. She whispered quietly, to her alone; "I never hated you, I was just jealous."

She was Michelle's eyes gloss over with more tears before she turned and left to go up to her father.

… … …

The next few days went by hazily, before she even knew it, Jakki was at the funeral for Mercey. She didn't cry, all her tears had already been dried up by this point. However, she did do her friend the honor of wearing a black dress to the funeral; it first time since she was six that she willingly put of a dress.

She let Michelle and Holly help her pick out the dress; her first step towards truly accepting them as her sisters. It was a simple knee-length dress, with a belled skirt and three-quarter sleeves. It was tied up in the front, and decorated at the skirt, sleeve, and neckline hems with lavender ribbons. She also wore the simple little silver charm she had gotten from Mercey for Christmas their first year at Hogwarts. Her fancy boots had their normal laces replaced with matching lavender ribbons and a black ribbon tied back her hair in a half-pony.

The service was small, since Mercey was the last of her family to survive. Her brother had been killed a few weeks earlier by Death Eaters after he had went on the run. He died on a valiant attempt to find Jakki, and was never completely found. Jacelynn and Angela had come to pay their respects and left directly after the service. They held a grudge towards Jakki, thinking she had been the reason Mercey was dead. She couldn't blame them, after all, she felt responsible for it.

Afterwards Jakki settled down for a while, still living with her parents for another year. She stayed secluded and solitary for that year, only leaving the house with Travis, when he begged her to. Angela and Jacelynn forgave her, but soon got married and left the country with their husbands. Mercey's death was a rift too big for them to completely bridge and get over.

Live was slow to return to normal for Jakki. Every time she saw evidence of the war, she had flashbacks of what had happened that summer. Evidence of the war was everywhere, even though most of it dissolved away for the rest of the world.

Soon enough, Jakki felt like reentering the world and joining in with the wizarding community once again. Although the war had took and exceptionally large toll on her personally, she hid it from everyone else in the world and tried to act like everything had returned to normal. But nothing had. Nothing ever would fully return to normal, for neither her nor the rest of the world. Her 'scars' from the Second War would never fully heal and disappear. She was glad for that. She never wanted to forget.

… … …

_**A/N: **__this chapter was originally due to be finished and come out yesterday, since yesterday (August 13) was Jakki's birthday. Unfortunately, I had problems tearing myself away for the manga I was reading, for this reason I apologize, it's irresponsible of me as a write to do something like that. But now you have it, the final 'chapter', the next thing to come out will be the epilogue, which will be five years forward from the end of this (Jakki is eighteen at the end of this, so she'll be twenty-three the next time you see her), and this is the first chapter I've written since _Deathly Hallows _came out. I read it and felt completely stupid because my story made almost not sense in tying all the loose ends that Jo did. Will she ever cease to amaze me?_

_Anyway, I've tried to at least keep this chapter separate from what has happened in book 7, which was quite a bit of trouble since I felt so guilty about writing this so horribly. And I felt like I had to bring back all the characters that were originally meant to be in here, like Jacelynn, Angela, and Joel, who I had forgotten about. Any questions, I'll be happy to answer them, and don't worry, the epilogue shouldn't take long, since I don't plan on writing it as long as I have all these chapters. _

_And I didn't get any reviews on the last chapter so…no one guessed who died, so no new character will be appearing like I had planned. _


	8. Epilogue

_**The Aftermath**_

_Masquerades Epilogue_

... … …

**Five Years Later**

Jakki Apparated onto the designated platforms set in the Ministry of Magic, sighing as she re-checked the burn on her first three fingers. Thankful for not being the kind of person that had to do a lot of paperwork and writing, the burn was still throbbing lightly as a reminder.

A single black head bounced through the crowd caught her eye. She thought, although she didn't know, she knew who it was, even without seeing the glasses or the eyes color. She jumped off the shallow platform and sprang forward, weaving tough the crowd with all the 'excuse me's and 'sorry's necessary as she bumped into people and dodged between them. Until finally she reached the black-haired man she had meant to see. She tried not to smile was she tapped him on the shoulder gentle.

"Er…hello?" he asked, a little confused as to why someone was bothering him on his way to work in such a way.

"You don't recognize me, do you, Hero-boy?" she scowled at him, trying to imitate her former self, hoping he'd at least be reminded of her former attitude.

It took him a second, looking over the strange young woman scowling at him. She had blonde hair, cut short and shaggy; a diagonal cut put her bangs in front of her face with it being parted on the side. Her hair was up in a short and stubby ponytail in the back; all but her bangs and a few fly-aways had escaped the band. Most of her hair seemed to be streaked with blue and green to accent her eyes; more blue than green in both. She was slight and slim, but had thin bands of muscle bulking her up a bit, but not much. There was something, though, very familiar that he couldn't quite figure out where he had seen the malicious sparkle in her eyes. Unless…

"You couldn't be Jakki Knight, could you?" he asked, only two girls had ever called him 'Hero-boy' to his face, and only one was still living.

"It took you a while there, didn't it?" she teased, knowing she had changed. "I guess I look very different now. I had to cut the hair though; it's too hard to get things done with that old mess. Plus I got it singed quite a few times, and I had to get the burnt ends chopped off."

"Really? What do you do?" he asked, too surprised about meeting an old alley to care that talking too long could possibly mean being late. "You don't work for the Ministry, do you? You look horrible; you weren't attacked, were you?"

"Well, not by a human at least," she looked at her fingers again, blowing on them gently. The throbbing was starting to ebb somewhat. "I wok for the people who work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Beast Division. I get to go out and decide weather a creature is really dangerous or not. I just got back from a job actually, gotta go report." she sighed. "What about you?"

"I work here, too," he grinned at her. "Auror."

"Guess we both got dangerous jobs now," she dropped her hand and looked over her arms, taking her first real look at the majority of her injuries. "Oh, before I forget, Travis and I are getting married in a month,"

"Oh congratulations!"

"Thanks," she smiled, her face glowing at the reminder of her coming wedding. "You know, it'd be really nice if you could come…you were meant to get an invitation but I had fire-spitting cats when I was sending them out. Unfortunately, five were reduced to cinders. Which reminds me, are you still in touch with Ron and Hermione? I lost their invites as well."

She was talking fast, and it took him a second to catch what she had said. "I'll tell them next time I see them. I'm sure they'd love to come."

"What about you? I'm still trying to get all my R.S.V.P.'s in order."

"Oh I'll try my hardest; it all depends on my wife, though."

And so they started to catch up on the years they hadn't been in touch since the war was ended. Jakki learned that Harry had married the Ginny that she had been accused of stealing him from. How he now had a six-year-old godson he had been taking care of, a four-year old niece, and a baby due in a little more than a week. Jakki told Harry about _her_ niece, who had just turned three, and about her father's recent death due to a heart attack. And about her working vacation in Japan where Travis had proposed. She even showed him the tattoo on her wrist of her name in Japanese symbols.

"I got it done in Japan, actually." She said as she showed it to him. "I asked the guy if he could tattoo my name on my arm and he drew it up really quick. Trav was with me. He asked why I chose my name and not his. I told him I thought about getting Tory's, my little sister's, instead since she was family and his but because we weren't married or anything, I decided not to. He just kinda grinned at me and he just said 'well, then, how bout it?' Not very romantic, I suppose, but it was still so sweet."

"Yeah, I bet," he smiled, remembering how nervous he had been when she had asked Ginny to marry him, and checked his watch. "I should actually get going, I'm probably late."

"Oh yeah, me too," she laughed. "It was great seeing you again."

"Yeah, same here. I'll let you know about the wedding."

"Please do," she waved as she half-jogged away, smirking happily as she weaved through the crowded atrium again.

… … …

Mid afternoon brought the blue and silver wedding on in full swing. Harry sat with Ginny, his new son, and the impatient six-year-old Teddy. Ron and Hermione sat with without any children. All of them looked pleased to have been invited to the happy couple's wedding. Hermione was tearing up as Jakki walked down the aisle in a long dress.

The pale, glittering blue silk fit her perfectly, belling out only slightly from the waist. The skirt flitted and swayed elegantly around her legs, blowing around behind her in the light breeze. The shimmering, almost misty, light blue veil material formed sleeves that fell off the shoulder dramatically, floating gently to her wrists where it was bunched into elegant hem. Her veil matched the sleeves and was pinned into her elaborately curled hair (the blue and green had been removed for the day) and fell down her back, and in her face.

Jakki didn't look like 'Jakki' at all, for the first time since she was four, she actually looked like _'Jeshickah'_. In the very front row, she could see her mother and sister-in-law, Michelle, crying. Jonathan was walking with her, in place of her father Holly was walking ahead of them, and Travis looked stunning standing alone at the little dais waiting. He looked so handsome to Jakki, she could only think about how lucky she felt.

The wedding was beautiful. Everyone came to tell the newly weds just how happy they were that they were able to share in the occasion.

"Hey, thanks again for inviting us," Harry said when the crowd around Jakki and Travis had died down enough that he could talk to her.

"No problem, I'm just happy you made it!" she was glowing again, looking wholly like a young and in-love bride.

"You look fantastic," he grinned widely. "Would you like to meet my wife? You never had a chance before."

"I'd love to," she tugged Travis along with her after Harry to the table she was sitting at. Ron and Hermione smiled brightly at her.

"Ginny," Harry said, helping her up from her seat and taking the baby from her arms. "This is Jakki Knight."

"Hi, Ginny," Jakki offered her hand out to the beautiful redheaded woman. "It's really great to finally meet you."

"Same to you," Ginny smiled warmly. "Harry talked about you a lot."

"Obviously, you know Ron and Hermione," Harry continued, both of them offered congratulations and shook hands with both Jakki and Travis. "Then my godson, Teddy Lupin," –the little boy smiled sheepishly and waved– "and my son, James."

"Well, thanks to all of you for coming, it's so nice to see you all," Travis said; he beamed at his new wife with warm affection. "But we have to go, are you read for the first dance?"

Jakki beamed back at him, and allowed him to lead her out onto the floor. After being joined by others, the floor filled with dancers. After what seemed like hours and hours of dancing, and celebrating, the crowds thinned and disappeared, until Jakki and Travis were alone in front of their new house.

A year later brought twins to Jakki and Travis, two boys thy named Nikolas and Kristopher. Jakki had inherited her mother's flare for oddly spelled names. And another year later, Mercey Elaine joined the small family. Viktorya Isabelle, Jonathan and Michelle's daughter, felt relieved that she finally had a female cousin.

All in all, life after the war was so much easier for Jakki. She felt especially gifted to have a happy family and she stayed in touch with Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron. Jakki's daughter ended up in the same year with Harry's second son, Albus, and Ron and Hermione's first child, Rose. Life was as good as it gets for the team that had once ended the war. Thankfully everything came easy since that.

* * *

_Thank you, everyone for helping me write this. The first multi-chpater peice of work I've ever finished...well except for the fic I'm afraid to post. But still, thank you everyone for the help, _you _are the ones who gave me the insperation to keep this going. I dedicate this all to you!_


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